I decided I wanted to play the banjo when I was 14 years
old in the mid 1960s. My mom was taking guitar lessons but I wanted to
play banjo.

I went to a music store in Lewiston, Idaho and bought a
Harmony tenor banjo. Then, I went to Hirzel's music store to find a
banjo instructor, and I met Mr. (F. Lee) Baldwin.

Mr. Baldwin was a dedicated plectrum banjo
enthusiast. He probably did not approve of my new tenor but kept his
concerns to himself. He pointed out that some changes were
required. He pointed out that half the brackets were missing and helped
me drill out holes and mount additional brackets.

About a year later I bought an old plectrum banjo from
my brother's friend. The banjo had no tone ring or tension ring, but it
was a plectrum. I got a piece of copper tubing for the tone ring and had
a local metal shop bend and weld a tension ring. I filed out notches
with a file and I had a plectrum banjo.

The first tune I learned from Mr. Baldwin was Bye Bye
Blues. Mr. Baldwin was always encouraging and always found something
positive to say about the tune I had been practicing the previous week.
He was always strong on pointing out chord forms, and he would tell me which
finger was on the root of the chord. He would also tell me the names of
the chords.